


do i get to say thank you this time?

by snoopys



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst if u squint, Fluff, M/M, Open Ending, Spiderman AU, this has like a couple of fight scenes so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 22:16:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18647173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snoopys/pseuds/snoopys
Summary: Donghyuck is just like everyone else. Gawks at Spiderman, loves Spiderman. What makes him different is that Spiderman happens to admire him and also, right under his nose, happens to be his best friend. Those notes on his locker have quite a big hint too. I mean, who else calls Donghyuck 'MJ'?





	do i get to say thank you this time?

**Author's Note:**

> first ever proper one shot on this site and i only got the first part beta'd so this may have a few mistakes here and there but i hope you guys like it! feedback is appreciated as always :)

There’s a headache coming to Jeno  again , and it’s only been three hours into a school day when- oh god, here it comes.

 

He lifts up a hand to massage his head, soothing the headache just a little bit in an attempt to live until the end of the period. Donghyuck is talking his ears off, like he usually does, looking like he’s not gonna shut up about what happened to him the other day.

 

For once, Jeno allows him, because it’s not all the time that you get to meet your “hero” or idol or whatever Donghyuck calls him and be close to them. That’s what happened to Donghyuck, who obviously can’t stop talking about it.

 

It’s not like Donghyuck’s different from anyone else- everyone loves Spiderman and gawks at him equally as much as he does. Except, Donghyuck is way too hung up on this spideyguy person. Even before Spiderman had saved his butt, Donghyuck tells Jeno every single detail about his latest crime fighting adventures.

 

This time though, it’s Donghyuck that was taken away from a near death experience, clearly bringing him a big wave of fear and also relief. He babbles on and on as the time ticks by, taking the chance to tell Jeno everything since their teacher didn’t show up today. (And thank you, Mr. Seo for not coming at all!)

 

“You won’t be able to guess what happened next,” Donghyuck bounces on his seat, squealing like a little girl.

 

“He told Goblin off?” Jeno asks, monotonously that is, making sure he sounds uninterested.

 

Donghyuck stops bouncing on his chair to glare at his best friend. “You know,” He sighs dramatically.  “ Sometimes, I think you hate me.” 

 

Jeno scoffs at that. “Me? Hate you?” He shakes his head, laughing. “I can’t hate you to save my life.”

 

There’s warmth that crawls up to Donghyuck’s cheeks after Jeno’s statement. He turns his head away shortly to rub at his nape. “Okay, but speaking of lives being saved-” Jeno almost laughs at Donghyuck’s attempt to change the topic, he could see the red tinting his skin but he doesn’t mention it. 

 

He’s entirely aware of the effect he has on Hyuck, only because the boy won’t dare hide it. He sees Donghyuck’s blushing cheeks all the time, especially when Jeno says something with the help of his ever-so teasing mind. He has a way of his own with getting people’s hearts, and one of his more common victims just happen to be Hyuck.

 

It’s not that Jeno’s playing with his best friend, he wouldn’t ever want his feelings hurt. He does it because Jeno just wants to. They did say marry your best friend, and Jeno hates how he’s just more than willing to do just that.

 

“Hey, are you still listening?” There’s a light slap that meets his arm, snapping him out of his daze and he turns to Hyuck quickly.

 

“Yeah, I am…” Donghyuck’s face brightens at Jeno’s answer, immediately continuing his story, as if Jeno doesn’t know everything that occurred.

 

Because you see, Jeno doesn’t have to hear it from Hyuck, because he knows it  _ himself _ . There’s only three different ways how: either Jeno has seen it from the news, heard it from someone else,  _ or  _ he was there.

 

As spiderman himself.

 

Apparently, it’s the latter.

 

It all happened too quickly, Jeno remembers he was only walking home from school with Donghyuck and then his best friend was gone and into a stranger’s arms, knife pressed to his side and the stranger yelling incoherent words. The next thing he knew he was ‘calling for help’ and Donghyuck immediately saw a red cladded figure from above.

 

He gestures for Donghyuck to not scream--even if it’s out of delight, he hopes he doesn’t fucking do it--and quietly makes his way down. He clears his throat first, raising his arms in surprise at how fast the stranger turned his head to look. “Yo slow down, sugar pie!” Jeno says through nervous laughter. “Th-that’s an innocent person in your hold right now, I don’t think you should be holding them like that.”

 

He could hear Donghyuck’s muffled voice say something like “yeah! What he said!” before he mentally sighs at his best friend’s antics. The stranger chuckles darkly before cocking his head to the side, something like a gesture for someone to come in.

 

Jeno wasn’t wrong, because from behind him he could sense another presence, slowly… slowly making his way towards him.

 

He hears another chuckle, this time it was low and it sent shivers down Jeno’s spine. He doesn’t even have to turn around to know who it is when it spoke. “Alright, Spideyboy,” Goblin mumbles. “it’s time we end this.” 

 

Jeno’s shoulders drop, why’d it have to be now? “I don’t think we should be rushing things,” Jeno grins, the robotic eyes in his mask copying the crescents in his real ones. “I mean, I don't like you that way, everything is completely platonic. Forgive me-"

 

“This isn't some stupid break-up, I will literally end you!”

“Whoops,” he shrugs, "then I'm guessing you're not one to take it slow?" Norman furrows his eyebrows and immediately sputters. "What?" and Jeno mutters a small alright before he throws a punch to Goblin’s face, glancing quickly above his shoulder to make sure Hyuck was still there. 

 

Goblin sweeps him off of his feet, sending him to the other side of the street. Out of all places, it really had to be in the most open areas of the city; saying they're making a scene is a lot more fitting than usual, it had to be in public.

 

And Jeno gets up, groaning as he flies with his web to kick Goblin right into the gut, throwing him into the wall. Goblin recovers faster than he did, attacking him again off-guard and had Jeno falling on his back on the concrete.

 

"Seriously?!" he yells, holding his masked face. He catches Goblin's fist a few centimeters away from his already aching cheeks and pushes it away, kicking him into the gut. 

 

One last push, Spiderman punches Goblin multiple times to put him in a short passed out state. "Stay there," he says, pointedly at Goblin, gazing at the unconscious man by the wall.

 

He runs up to the man holding Donghyuck, shouting multiple woah's while he's at it.

 

“Let go or I’m going to do something!” Jeno threatens, placing both hands on his hips (and if Donghyuck isn’t about to fucking die, he would giggle at how cute Spidey looked). Laughter erupts from the man, tightening the way his arm wrapped around Donghyuck’s mouth. “What will you do? Shoot your sticky little webs at me?”

 

Jeno inwardly groans, he mentally notes to hurt this man a lot more than he intended and  _ his webs aren’t little!  _ “Nah,” Jeno says out of annoyance with a matching mocking shrug. He’s quiet for a moment, turning to the wall behind him. “It’s this.” Jeno says before he lifts himself up to kick the man in his crotch, trying his best to avoid Hyuck. It was difficult but Jeno took his risks, which fortunately sent the man to his knees. 

 

Donghyuck immediately runs off to hide when he’s released, smiling at Spiderman brightly. “Go Spidey!” he whispers, air-punching in the slightest. Jeno could feel his chest warm up at that and nods, motioning for him to move away. “You bastard!” He hears the man yell, and Jeno walks up to Goblin still in the position he left him in, already drifting back into consciousness.

 

He steps on Goblin’s stomach. “Alright,” he steps on it harder. “What’s the catch?”

 

Goblin growls, grabbing the air in attempts to attack Spiderman. “I used him as bait! That’s the catch,” he hisses as the boy dodges yet another of his attacks. “Bait?” Spiderman echoes, lowering his head closer to Goblin’s.

 

“I know a lot more than you think I do, Spideyboy…” There’s a smirk in Goblin’s voice, slowly turning into Norman--one of the few people Jeno hates--and Jeno steps on his stomach the hardest he can. Norman yelps out in pain, almost passing out as Jeno makes his escape, shooting a web up and disappears from Norman’s sight.

 

After that, Jeno can’t make up his mind. If Goblin had said bait, it meant he’s using Donghyuck to lure him into his grave. The thought of being the reason why Donghyuck is in trouble makes him sick, but another thought stands out from his other thoughts and that was  _ how the hell did Goblin find out Donghyuck was the perfect bait? _

 

“I didn’t get to thank him though,” Donghyuck ends his story with a pout. “I don’t think he needed one,” was Jeno’s reply, leaning into his chair with his arms crossed. Donghyuck raises an eyebrow, “how do you know that?”

 

_ Because I don’t need you to thank me  _ was at the tip of Jeno’s tongue, ready to jump out of his mouth. But he bites it and shrugs. “He saves everyone,” Jeno says nonchalantly. “It’s like his job or something.”

 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes and sighs out an ‘of course’. “You’re so boring, Jeno! Don’t you have fun in your life?” Jeno looks at Hyuck with a smirk. “I do, I have you, MJ.”

 

The response that Donghyuck arranged in his head was caught in his throat, blush creeping up into his cheeks again. He’s about three breaths away from pushing Lee Jeno off of his chair, but he’s stiff at this point, not knowing what to do or say.

 

“O-Okay, I-I know that…” Donghyuck stutters, balling his fists. “You keep saying that! Stop talking as if I’m the only thing that brings fun to your life!” Donghyuck manages to retort, hating how he ended up as a stuttering mess. Jeno couldn’t hold back the smile while watching Hyuck though and he tears his gaze away to help the other boy calm down.

 

“What makes you sleep at night, MJ,” Jeno mutters just as the bell rings. He winks at Hyuck before collecting his things and trudges out the door. Leaving Donghyuck to gape at him as he left.

  
  
  


____________________

  
  
  


He makes a bunch of decisions without thinking about it. One of them was this, being in front of Donghyuck’s locker at 5 AM, with the hallways still completely empty and the whole school deprived of its everyday unbearable noise.

 

Honestly, he has no idea how on earth will he explain this to Hyuck. All he knows is that this was the perfect way to stall at confessing because he’s definitely  _ still  _ not ready at reciting a whole five minutes worth of an essay about his feelings towards the Michael Jackson fan of a best friend he has.

 

That’s where the nickname came from too. As kids, Donghyuck often begged for Jeno to play those Michael Jackson albums Jeno’s dad had in the shelf, he has a great collection taking up all dust. And Donghyuck, being the fan he is, didn’t want them to not be played.

 

He danced to those songs until the day ended, sometimes singing at the top of his lungs which never bothered Jeno because Donghyuck was incredibly good at doing both.

 

Jeno automatically pulls out an album whenever Donghyuck came over too, and up until today he still does it out of instinct. Donghyuck never gets tired of listening to those songs anyway, so he doesn’t make Jeno grow out of an adorable habit.

 

He played those CD’s enough to make them earn a few scratches, Jeno’s dad even said he hasn’t had an album this played much until Donghyuck came around. 

 

Donghyuck had a bunch of posters of Michael Jackson plastered on his bedroom walls. He comes by every now and then, and through the years, the posters changed into something better even though they’ve gotten lesser and lesser as Hyuck grows older.

 

And every Halloween, Donghyuck would be clothed in that black and white attire, hat on the top of his head as he did the infamous pose the said singer does at almost every performance. Jeno adored his best friend’s love for this person and supported him in every way possible, including the nickname that only he calls Donghyuck of.

 

Funny enough, Jeno decided to drop a big hint on the note he had just finished sticking on the cold metal of Donghyuck’s locker door. At the end of the cute note was ‘MJ’ in big bold letters, smiley face next to it. If Donghyuck truly isn’t stupid, he’d notice it but Jeno badly hopes the opposite because yet again, he didn’t think this through.

 

A spider was cutely drawn at the very corner of the post-it too, he left it there as a signature. Donghyuck would  _ die  _ if he sees that, thinking it would be his beloved Spiderman that saved his life. Donghyuck wouldn’t be wrong if he did think that and Jeno might just end up hating himself.

 

Jeno hears chatter come up from the end of the hall soon after. He gasps and turns left and right to check which way to go to. He glances at the locker one last time before he hastily makes his way towards his classroom and sits himself down to take a quick nap before this place gets filled up. He’ll deal with it when he wakes up.

  
  


_________________

  
  


“You don’t even live your life correctly!” Donghyuck screams into Jeno’s face, slinging the strap of his backpack on his shoulder. Jeno looks at Donghyuck with a blank face, turning away to shake his head in annoyance. “Taeyong rarely lets me out, okay.”

 

Bickering about Jeno being boring was part of their everyday routine--or for Donghyuck rather. He just couldn’t stand the idea of his best friend being stuck at home, missing all the fun. Even though Jeno assures him that he has a great dose of fun with Hyuck alone, he’s not taking that as the fun he’s pertaining to.

 

Jeno doesn’t like it. He loves Donghyuck, a lot, but sometimes he gets too intrusive to the point that Jeno has another reason why Lee Donghyuck is one of the most annoying human beings, a book written by Lee Jeno. 

 

It’s funny how there’s always a different way how the argument starts. Today, Donghyuck caught Jeno asleep in the classroom that happens to be their third period, and he scolds the boy again, earning a bite back from Jeno.

 

The argument was bad today though, because Donghyuck had heard all of Jeno’s excuses and it’s driving him crazy. The other boy huffs out, walking up to his locker without looking at it, busy glaring at his best friend. “You can’t always use Taeyong as an excuse.”

 

Jeno doesn’t reply and stands a few feet from where Donghyuck was, and listened to him go on.”you’re smart enough to think of ways to sneak out but you don’t use your brai-” 

 

Donghyuck’s eyes widen at the decoration on his locker. There’s a tremendous amount of post-it’s, most are just occupied with a big heart except for the one in the middle. He carefully plucks that note off of the locker door and he spins on his heels to look at Jeno with a mouth hanging open.

 

“Ugh, MJ, shut your mouth, there are flies here.” Jeno says with a creased forehead, closing Donghyuck’s mouth with his palm on his chin. Jeno looks down at the colored note in Donghyuck’s grasp, smiling a little when he sees it and immediately goes back to frowning when he looks at Hyuck’s still frozen shocked face.

 

“Spiderman called me MJ…” Hyuck whispers under his breath, making Jeno lean in closer to try and hear him better. He takes both of Jeno’s shoulder and shakes the life out of his best friend. “Spiderman just called me MJ, he knows!” He shouts into Jeno’s ear and Jeno swears he’s one shout away from going deaf.

 

“Please let go of me.” Jeno says, but Donghyuck ignores his plead and pulls him into an embrace. “Okay, you won’t, that’s fine. Yeah, okay, MJ.”

 

And as Donghyuck lets go, looking at the note with a wide grin, Jeno can’t help but smile too… even if his best friend is so fucking dense, that’s alright.

  
  
  


_____________

  
  


Jeno winces when he touches the wound at the side of his chin. He fought a tough one last night, almost receiving way too many punches for his bargain. He decided to just wing it and kicked the guy in the face, knocking him unconscious. Jeno left after calling the cops so quickly, not even sorry for doing that to the robber. He deserved it.

 

“Ouch?” He hears Hyuck’s voice come up from beside him, the chair moving a little once Hyuck was seated. “That looks bad, maybe you should go to the infirma-” Jeno shakes his head, not in the mood to talk about it and cuts into Donghyuck’s words. “It’s fine, it’s not bleeding anyway.”

 

(And it baffles him how Donghyuck isn’t popping up the special question because this wound doesn’t appear out of nowhere, and Jeno isn’t a kid who got into fights. Oh, he’s dense, so damn dense.)

 

Donghyuck’s eyebrows furrow at his best friend’s response, wanting to retort and force him to go to the infirmary but Jeno beats him at talking first. “Another note?” He asks, looking at Donghyuck’s grip, holding the second colored note of the week. Jeno fully knows that he left another note, and he’s also the mind behind of what’s written on it. Though, his acting has to be put out with this stunt he’s pulling off.

 

It’s Jeno’s bad decisions that makes him want to throw himself off of the building sometimes. He’s lucky that Donghyuck hasn’t put the pieces together yet because if he did, Jeno might just swallow his fist.

 

“Yeah, this time it had a Spiderman head next to it.” Donghyuck says, staring at the note with heart eyes. Jeno pretends to gag at it, pushing his friend slightly. “Disgusting,” Jeno remarks with a matching eyeroll.

 

There’s a gasp that leaves Donghyuck’s mouth, excitedly turning to Jeno. He raises the note to Jeno’s eye level and bounces on his seat like he always does when he’s happy. “Do you think Spidey goes to our university, Jen?” The glint in Donghyuck’s eyes was hopeful, as if it was pleading for Jeno to not ruin this for him and he follows that silent plead.

 

“Maybe?” Jeno answers, ignoring the sting his wound sent. It makes the glint in Donghyuck’s eyes brighter, he’s satisfied with that.

 

“If he does then it wouldn’t be hard to find him, right?” The boy was rummaging through his bag, pulling out the red clearbook he marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ for certain reasons. Only Jeno gets to see the collection of newspaper clippings and printed out articles from the internet. 

 

Donghyuck points at a photo of the superhero, tapping on it a few times before he speaks. “I will find out who he is and I’ll thank him for saving me.”

 

Jeno sighs.

  
  
  


_________________

  
  


Truth or dare was not a game Jeno liked. Not even when he’s playing with Hyuck because secrets are secrets, he didn’t tell them to anyone or anything.

 

The concept of truth or dare was basically letting out things that shouldn’t be out to anyone’s knowledge or doing tasks that you’re obliged to do no matter how awfully bad the consequences of it could be. Jeno was quite secretive, and really hated doing things against his will.

 

Jeno dislikes it more because Donghyuck would really try to put his hand into things he shouldn’t put them into. Jeno picking truth instantly went to Donghyuck flashing out questions that went beyond Jeno’s limits.

 

Donghyuck proposed the idea of playing. They sat on the floor in front of their classroom door since their Physics teacher didn’t come up and neither of them were going to die of boredom inside that room. To kill time, Donghyuck thought he’d find out some of Jeno’s hidden treasures, but much to his dismay, the older boy can’t seem to satiate his wants.

 

“Truth or dare?” Jeno asks resentfully, asking for the time to run faster. Donghyuck grumbles, “truth.”

 

Jeno wasn’t a person to go against his values, but if Donghyuck can try and overstep his boundaries, Jeno will do the same. “Why…” he trails off, arranging the question once more before he continues, “do you like Spiderman so much? You don’t know who he is.”

 

The look on Donghyuck’s face reminded Jeno of anger. If this is what success is on managing to go through fences, then Jeno doesn’t like it. “Why did you ask me that?” was all that Donghyuck replies, clearly not in the mood to answer his inquiry.

 

Jeno lifts his shoulders as a shrug. “You ask me invasive questions all the time, I answer them.”

 

At the end of Donghyuck’s mouth was a retort, because Jeno never answered those questions properly and god, he’s so annoying whenever he dodges them. But he gulps down that hateful reply, fending off Jeno’s mood drop (the last time he got mad at Hyuck, he nearly thrashed his own room. Jeno’s scary when he’s mad, Donghyuck doesn’t want that to happen again.)

 

“I’m throwing back the question to you,” Donghyuck pointedly looks at Jeno. “You’re the only person I know that doesn’t like Spiderman.”

 

Jeno becomes readable at that moment, he looked upset, shocked, something else that Donghyuck couldnt point his fingers at. He should’ve known it would backfire at him, it always does. “I don’t don’t like Spiderman,” he mutters, turning his gaze to the thing that caught his eye.

 

There’s the note he left this morning in Donghyuck’s hold again. It’s been an entire week of leaving them on his locker and so far, Donghyuck still remains clueless of the big what if that’s probably stuck on Jeno’s head like an idiot board Donghyuck doesn’t look at. 

 

Jeno gulps, “it’s just that there’s nothing so great about him. Radioactive spider bite? Okay. What else? He can swing, he can shoot webs? What?”

 

The more Jeno talked, the more irked Donghyuck grows. His fingers toughened on the note, leaving wrinkles in its wake and he furiously shakes his head at Jeno’s every claim. “No, no, no!”

 

“You don’t understand, Jen.” Donghyuck avoids Jeno’s gaze, staring down at the post-it in his hand and continues to ramble. “He saves lives, not everyone is brave enough to save people when they’re in need. Not even you would be brave to save me when I’m in trouble. That’s what makes Spiderman special, he has a pure heart and anyone, literally anyone would fall in love with that.”

 

He hears a scoff later on and Donghyuck takes a quick look at his best friend before he whispers the last line of his rant. 

 

“Anyone except you.”

 

There’s a laugh that bubbles in Jeno’s throat. Fall in love with Spiderman? Donghyuck’s right, anyone could do that except for Jeno. And as much as Jeno wanted to just tell the truth, he agrees with Donghyuck instead, accepting his faux defeat. “Yeah, not me.”

 

Donghyuck, with a loud sigh, grabs his bag and reaches his hand out to Jeno. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

 

“Right now?” Jeno squints at Donghyuck, quite in disbelief of the sudden offer. Donghyuck nods and rubs his tummy. “I’m hungry,” he lies, watching as Jeno’s cheeks grow big with the held back laughter.

 

He takes Hyuck’s hand and gets up from where he’s seated. “You’re the one who said the game would be fun,” Donghyuck scowls, shaming away from how Jeno could easily tell his quick disinterest, and pushes him playfully. “Yeah but you made it boring,” he mumbles, he pushes Jeno once more before shouting, “you never have fun, Jen!”

 

Jeno rolls his eyes, restraining himself from explaining everything to Donghyuck.

 

He’ll know some other time. But not right now, because Jeno’s still not ready… not yet.

  
  
  


______________

  
  


**“Hey, MJ, hope you have a great day today!”**

 

Something in those words made Jeno’s stomach churn. It wasn’t quite fitting for today since it was weird that Donghyuck missed a whole day of school.

 

Jeno tried calling him to ask what was wrong but all of his attempts led him to voicemail. His texts went unread and he doesn’t know what to say when his teachers asked him about his absence. 

 

Jeno always knew the reason why Donghyuck didn’t go to school and this time, it didn’t settle to Jeno right. 

 

He decided to pay him a visit but Donghyuck nor his parents were home so he thought they went out of town and his best friend had just ran out of battery while on the way.

 

He waited for a text or a call but it never came.

 

Not wanting to come off creepy to Hyuck, Jeno decided he’d try and investigate further tomorrow. 

 

Though, Jeno’s stomach dropped when he went up to Donghyuck’s locker the next morning to place a new post-it. Everything he had put up yesterday was gone, replaced with a note in red ink that said  **HELP** .

 

At first he was angry, this could be a prank and Jeno didn’t want to fall victim to his stupid classmates’ shitty jokes. So he took the note, crumpled it and threw it to the bin.

 

That was until he got tired of listening to class and skipped his remaining periods to run off to Donghyuck’s house.

 

He often went and stayed even without Donghyuck because he had nothing better to do. 

 

He pushed their backdoor open, greeted with Donghyuck’s mother’s surprised look. “Jeno?” Donghyuck’s mother calls out. “Uh, hi… Mrs. Lee… I was just about to hang out in Donghyuck’s room but it’s fine if you don’t want me t-”

 

“No, no, come in… it’s just that…” Jeno could sense something wrong, and when he takes a closer look at Donghyuck’s mother, he could see that she was tired, that something was bothering her.

 

“Is something wrong, Mrs. Lee?” Jeno asks once he steps in, and Donghyuck’s mother starts to cry. “It’s Hyuckie,” she says as she lifts her head up from her palms, she cries out loudly, making Jeno’s heart break at the sound.

 

“What about him?” Jeno softly mutters, placing a careful hand on her shoulder. 

 

“He hasn’t went home since yesterday.” 

 

Jeno’s blood runs cold at her return. God, how could he be so stupid? Donghyuck could’ve personally left that note in hopes of Spiderman coming to his rescue, and here he is, thinking it was just some ridiculous prank.

 

Jeno didn’t spare a second with running out of that house, throwing his backpack somewhere around Donghyuck’s backyard. 

 

_ “I know more than you think I do, Spideyboy.” _

 

With that voice playing in his head like a broken record, the red suited figure stomps his way out of that backyard and begins his search. He doesn’t know where to begin, but Spiderman is more than determined to look for Donghyuck out there.

  
  


_________________

  
  


Both ends of Donghyuck’s lips have gone sore, he’s sure he’d have a difficult time opening it for a while. Pacing back and forth in front of him was a man in a plain white shirt, his tight pants had a few rips by the knees. He looked angry,  _ desperate  _ for something to come--one that seemingly didn’t arrive.

 

He diverts his attention to Donghyuck, bloodshot eyes that stared him down until he felt small. Donghyuck’s vulnerable to whoever this person is (or from the looks of his name tag that said  _ Norman _ ) and he’s been stuck under his supervision for a full day.

 

“Where is he?!” came the loud yell from Norman, he tilts Donghyuck’s head facing him with a hold on his chin. Donghyuck doesn’t know why he’s here and who is Norman pertaining to, he was only trying to get to school until this old man decided to take him up for hostage.

 

(If last last week’s incident wasn’t enough, Donghyuck thought this man could have just said so and didn’t waste any of his energy on trying to capture Hyuck because for fuck’s sake, the boy solely wants to get to school.)

 

Donghyuck lets out muffled gibberish through his restraints, earning a low chuckle from the man. Norman drops his head along with a slow shake of it, “I should’ve known he was a coward.”

 

_ Coward?  _ Donghyuck bites the towel that went around his mouth, wishing to rid of it. Something sparked in Donghyuck’s mind, that this man was referring to  _ his hero  _ and that angered him to an extent, which has him aggressively biting the towel down. 

 

Norman looks presumably shocked at Donghyuck’s attempts yet bubbles into fits of laughter. “You can try all you want,” Norman smirks, aggravating Hyuck to bite further.

 

If Donghyuck wants to get out of here, he has to find something else aside from tearing this towel down. It’s a little tight, which gave Hyuck even more persistence. He hears a small rip not long after, a delighted hum leaving his throat as he continues his movements.

 

The towel falls to Donghyuck’s lap drenched in sweat and saliva, but he proceeds to grin with the newly found freedom. His eyes fall back on the man, grin immediately fading into an irritated grit of teeth. “He’s not a coward,” came an echo that rung in Norman’s ears.

 

He spins to face Donghyuck, apparently shocked once again. “How did y-” He mirrors Donghyuck’s annoyed grit. “You know what, I don’t have time to deal with a brat like you!” Norman merely spits, making sure to leave some emphasis on the word brat--and that only makes Donghyuck more agitated than ever. 

 

“Spiderman will come here and kick your ass. He will save me and bring me home safe because he isn’t a cowar-” 

 

The gun was perfectly aimed right into his mouth, making his mouth go dry and his features stay frozen under the fear. “One more wrong word, son,” Norman carefully spoke, something about the threat boomed at Hyuck that he really will pull the trigger, resulting to his complete silence as he takes the insides of his cheeks in between his teeth.

 

His head had alarms going off yet it begged and prayed for Spiderman to come sooner. And he's positive he will.

 

On the other side of things, Jeno's patience is running thin.

 

He's crashed into many abandoned warehouses, including ones that had different villains in them and of course, kicking their asses in the process, yet none of them had Goblin or Donghyuck in them. 

 

He stumbles onto the ground, exhausted. It were times like these that he had hoped he just believed his instincts rather than some stupid thought of his. If he had been looking earlier, Hyuck would have already been here, hugging him and thanking him once again.

 

But no. Donghyuck isn't here, instead he's held hostage by this annoying Goblin guy that won't leave Jeno alone to save his life. He's been sent behind bars a bunch of times by Jeno alone, but he insists to try and kick the teenager's fine butt for revenge—it's right to say he hadn't succeeded until now.

 

God, how could have he known?

 

Stalking was a good reason but whatever Goblin has to say, Jeno would still be left furious for even  _ trying  _ to get Donghyuck involved. Heck, he didn't get the chance to confess first before having him kidnapped because he hid his identity. This is what he feared the most, and that's more painful than any punch Jeno had received in this job.

 

He stands up, shooting a web to swing in the air again. One more warehouse and if Donghyuck doesn't happen to be there then he'll just call it a day and resume the next.

 

Collecting all of his remaining strength, Jeno flies above the bustling street. Lowering when he lets go and shoots another one to jump.

 

His body has gotten heavy from how tired he is, eyes droopy behind the mask but he keeps going. It's the scenarios playing in his head that taunts him to fight just a little more.

 

In the buzzing silence, and the growing tension, Donghyuck could feel something else. Snapping his head up, he surprises Norman and lifts the gun once again before it goes quiet in anticipation.

 

"What is it?" Norman asks.

"Oh, nothing." Donghyuck sheepishly smiles.

 

It's definitely not  _ nothing _ , especially when Donghyuck hears the old wood from the roof breaking as a red figure makes a grand entrance from above their heads. Norman's hand quickly follows the newcomer, pointing his gun at whoever it is.

 

On his left was the amazing Spiderman, having landed on his feet and was currently on his infamous pose that everyone saw before the boy in spandex saved their lives. Spiderman then scoffs.

 

"Oh? How delightful," Jeno says with a sarcastic tone, Donghyuck is sure he rolled his eyes behind that mask too and he giggles at it. Norman smiled, which sent acid into Jeno's stomach and his laughter echoed throughout the room. "I knew you'd come," he muttered, raspy.

 

"Crushing on me much?" He pretends to blush, placing a hand on where his mouth was and raises his shoulders in a way to portray a giggle. He shoots a web at the gun before pulling at it and hisses. "You didn't even invite me, man. You're fucking petty."

 

Norman yelps at the loss of weapon, frantically looking left and right to search for a new one. Donghyuck takes that as his opportunity to call out to Spiderman, already feeling the soreness becoming unbearable on his limbs.

 

Jeno tip-toes towards Hyuck, managing to remove the ropes on his wrists before Norman screams his name. He throws his head back in annoyance,  _ can he just give it up already? _

 

"I will end you, spidey boy!" He laughs, maniacally. Jeno stands up and crosses his arms, tapping his foot as his robotic eyes mimic his squinting real ones.

 

"I've heard you say that a bunch of times," Jeno fake-yawns. "I'm tired, let's get this done with."

 

And honestly, Jeno can go through another hour of hand-to-hand combat but this dumbass Norman had to scream out before he charges towards him. Jeno raises his eyebrows at that,  _ really _ ? he sighs  _ a battlecry? _

 

Goblin lands his first punch on the cheek and it did hurt but Jeno's willingness to finish things has him throwing more attacks than usual. He sends Goblin to the ground beside where Donghyuck sat, having rid of the restraints on his ankles by himself.

 

"That's what you get for making me miss school!" Donghyuck says with a pout, turning away from Goblin. The villain huffs out, clenching his fists. "Shut up you brat!" he merely spat, but he doesn't get the chance to before Spiderman was stepping on his stomach.

 

He groans out in pain, hand wrapping around the ankle of Jeno's foot, begging for him to stop. "Next time when you want to ask me to come for a tea party don't involve MJ here, okay?"

 

Jeno leans in, his robotic eyes squinting closer to Goblin's face and he warily says, "you lay your dirty hands on him one last time and i'll make sure you won't have any hands to lay on anything!"

 

Bringing up the man by his collar, he wishes him goodnight before punching him unconscious.

  
  
  
  


_________________

  
  
  


The police had filled the warehouse in a matter of minutes and Donghyuck watches with a cup of hot coffee and a blanket draped on his back. The kind policeman offered to buy him a drink for free after finding him in warehouse and told him to stay by the vehicles to do some questioning.

 

He sees a few of them talking to the boy in spandex in the side and another group escorting a hand-cuffed Goblin towards one of their cars. 

 

It's been a long day. If anything, Donghyuck is tired and busted. He didn't know that walking to school was a lot more dangerous than he expected and now he's sure to ask his dad to bring him to school or better—he asks Jeno.

 

With the boy in his train of thought, his eyes land back on the red cladded boy talking to the police. Some things didn't fit right while he sat there during his and Goblin's conversation and he wants to talk it out with this favorite of his to satiate this bubble in his head.

 

After half an hour or so, Spiderman is finally walking away from the policemen and Hyuck almost drops his hot chocolate when he rushes out of the police car. 

 

"Spidey! Wait!" He shouts, waving a hand in the air as he ran. 

 

Jeno winces upon hearing Donghyuck's voice from behind. He spins on his heel on an achingly slow pace before he comes face to face with the beaming teenager. "Uhm… you were… you saved my life again," Donghyuck rambles, not managing to decide on which foot he rests his weight on.

 

There's an awful debate on Jeno's head as he's stuck on choosing between saying  _ it's nothing  _ and  _ just doing my job _ whereas it ends up: "it's my job doing nothing."

 

"What?" Donghyuck blinked at him confused and Jeno's hand flies up to his nape to rub awkwardly with a matching nervous chuckle.

 

"I mean, just doing my job, yeah that's it…" he whispers, blush warm on his cheeks. He avoids Donghyuck's gaze, which thankfully the mask doesn't give away and he waits for the other boy to talk before he decides to sprint.

 

"Do I get to say thank you this time?" He mumbles, still smiling at the hero. He looks at Hyuck quickly before nodding, "you were just doing i-"

 

"Thank you…" Donghyuck cuts in, and just as Jeno was about to cut in as well as revenge, Donghyuck surprises him with the next thing he says- "I owe you a lot, Jen."

 

"Jen?!" Spiderman almost lands on his face when he jolts, robotic eyes going wide at the mention of his nickname. 

 

He laughs nervously louder this time, shaking his head while he repeatedly said no. "Jen? Who's that? I'm Spiderman, you must have mistaken."

 

Oh, how he badly wants to believe that his best friend hadn't pieced together everything yet. But from how Donghyuck was standing silent in front of him, smile having vanished, Jeno could tell.

 

He gives up from reasoning out, shoulders slumping as he pouts. "Was it the MJ?"

 

"Oh you bet it was," Donghyuck replies, nodding slightly. Spandex boy sighs audibly, taking hold of Hyuck's hand before he places the post-it note from yesterday. 

 

When he looks down at the colored note, Donghyuck looks up to find Spiderman already gone.

  
  


_________________

  
  
  


Donghyuck walks up to his locker, humming a tune of a song stuck in his head. There's a post-it note again today and he plucks it off, folding it neatly before he puts it inside his pocket.

 

**_Beautiful as always, MJ. I fall in love with you everyday_ **

 

He turns to look at his left and finds his best friend scrolling on his Instagram feed quietly and he smiles a little. He wonders when will he find the guts to stop sticking those notes and just tell him personally.

 

But unlike Goblin, Donghyuck wants to take it slow.

 


End file.
